I am pleased to announce Kevin Charbonneau as the new executive director of Environmental Health and Safety (EHS). Kevin was selected through a national search process and will succeed Peter Reinhardt, who is moving into the role of senior strategic advisor to help guide this transition. Peter will be retiring at the end of the calendar year following his many years of dedicated service to Yale.
Kevin is a certified health physicist with over thirty years of experience in environmental health and safety. He holds a B.S. in Radiological Health Physics and an M.S. in Radiological Safety and Protection. Throughout his career at Yale, he has forged strong relationships within the Yale community and is widely recognized as a trusted and respected leader. As an example, he, Peter Reinhardt, and Biological Safety Officer Ben Fontes together received the Linda Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service in 2020 for developing and implementing critical safety infrastructures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While serving as deputy director of EHS, Kevin was responsible for the unit’s operations, with a focus on campus and community safety, and the minimization of regulatory burden. He developed, deployed, and co-managed Yale’s Safety Advisor Program, which has been widely recognized and often emulated by peer institutions. He led the development and implementation of the EHS Integrator software that consolidated dozens of disparate databases, creating a convenient and efficient hub that allows researchers to access critical information in a timely manner. In partnership with key stakeholders, he established university-wide business processes to manage the shipment of highly regulated research materials.
Kevin chairs Yale’s Joint Labor Management Safety Committee and has been a member of a variety of university-wide safety committees during his more than 30 years of service to Yale to date. These include, most recently in support of Yale’s pandemic response, Public Health, Human Subject Research, and Off Campus Research and Fieldwork committees. We are excited for all Kevin will bring to this new role.
Peter Reinhardt has served as director of EHS since 2007, with an unwavering focus on providing world-class health and safety services in support of Yale’s scholarly and educational missions.
Pete fosters a work environment characterized by enthusiasm and excellence. Through his leadership, he has helped build Yale Environmental Health and Safety into a nationally recognized program. His dedication has been especially evident during the pandemic, as he and his EHS team have advised and collaborated with Yale researchers, medical personnel, and staff to implement protocols to create the safest possible campus environment.
Well-known for generously sharing his knowledge and expertise, both at Yale and with colleagues and peers across the country, Pete was recognized by his peers in 2010 when he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award from the Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association. As mentioned above, Pete was part of a group that received the Linda Lorimer Award for Distinguished Service for developing and implementing critical safety infrastructures during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few of his many appointments include: the National Academies’ Committee on Prudent Practices in the Laboratory, where he co-authored an update of that authoritative reference; the American Chemical Society’s Committee on Chemical Safety; and the Board of the Campus Safety, Health and Environmental Management Association.
Among many significant initiatives over time, Pete led the expansion of the Safety Advisor Program to provide responsive and personalized safety services to faculty, staff and students, the implementation of a comprehensive shop safety program, the development of an integrated information system that streamlined requirements and now allows scientific research faculty to efficiently access critical information, and the refinement of Yale’s extensive environmental compliance program. Pete’s contributions have had a lasting impact on Yale and will help ensure its success long past his retirement at year’s end.
Finally, I would like to extend my gratitude to the search committee for their diligence during the search process and to the many senior leaders who were integral to the process, as well. Please join me in congratulating Kevin as he begins his new position and in expressing our gratitude to Pete for his dedicated service.
Sincerely,
Cynthia A. Smith
Associate Provost for Health Affairs and Academic Integrity